Wichita eagle., 1887-11-29
AMERICAN LEATHER.
AN INDUSTRY DRAWING ON VARi-
GUS PARTS OF THE EARTH.

The Most Favorable Places for Tanning.
The Supply of Oak and Hemlock
Bark-The Importation of Hides from
South America.
No industry, perhaps, draws on various
portions of the earth to greater extent than
leather making. Leather production is not
thing confined to manufacturing centers.
The main feature of the business is bringing
together hides and hernlock and oak bark, and
pretty wild countries will suffice TO produce
these We find the Argentine Republic and
Brazil and our own western plains, including
Texas in the lead in respect to hides. In the
production of the banks which provide the
requisite tannin the United States is easily
foremost.
Where hemlock trees abound are the most
favorable places for tanning, and the largest
tanneries in this country are now in western
Pennsylvania and eastern Tennessee. The
main item of expense in obtaining bark is in
cutting roads to bring it out of the woods.
Hemlock trees frequently yield ten to fifteen
tons of bark to the acre, while the yield Of
oak trees is two or three tons. A low con-
tract price for hemlock bark by the year is
s. per ton, and for oak bark 81. The great
est tanneres of this country are owned in
this city, and it is here that the greatest
amount of business is done, Boston coming
next. Probably the largest oak tannery in
the United States is at Chattanooga. Tenn,
and the largest hemlock tannery in Mexican
county, Pa, very close to the state line at
Limestone, N. Y. On account Of the ex-
haustion of the bark the business of tanning
is not permanent one on largo scale at
any particular place. A tanners business Is
not safe until his plant has been paid for out
of bis profits, and he is free to select more
eligible site if he desires.
Hemlock bark is becoming rapidly ex-
hausted in this country, and it will not take
much more than generation, if the business
should be pushed, to practically exhaust it.
The supply Of hemlock bark, unlike that of
oak, cannot be newly created The average
age Of trees from which hemlock bark is
taken is perhaps $50 years, varying from $50
to 600 years. Oak trees can be grown for
bark in twenty years. The oak tree now
most relied upon is tho chestnut oak" of the
south, known as the "rock oak" in the north
This grows on the Appalachian chain Of
mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee,
and north and south of this locality in seem>
ingly exhaustless quantities. Much OF this
mountainous country seems worthless for
anything else but timber growing, and with
oak trees yielding bark in twenty years this
country ought to be sure of a supply for all
time As it is now our hemloch forests are
being rapidly denuded of their bark, that we
may supply the rest of the world with cheap
leather
Economically the leather trade stands on
its own footing, hides come in free of duty,
and while there is a small duty on solo
leather. there is so little need to import it on
account of the superior facilities of this
country for making it that such duty is of
little account. On the other hand, the trade
of this country suffers from duties imposed
in other countries.
Notwithstanding its advantages in manu-
featuring leather, the United States he's
never grasped it in building up an important
export trade in boots and Shoes There are
large establishments in England and Switzer-
land that do business of this kind for foreign
countries alone. One establishment, ex-
clusively for export in Switzerland, employs
l 400 people, importing its leather and ma
chinery largely from the United States. They
have made these businesses by studying
closely the wants and prejudices of those
WEOill but'y seek 10 Sell 10, anu tu0 IdVOllI12
conditions of exchange and transportation
have done the rest.
In addition to the importation of hides from
Brazil and the Argentine Republic, referred
TO, great many ether countries Of the world
do business Of this kind with the United
States. Among them may be mentioned the
Central American states, the countries of the
Spanish main. different parts of the African
continent, and, quite largely in recent years,
India and China. The best hides, perhaps,
known in this market come from Chill The
great supply comes from our western plains,
where the business of stock raising has
reached such magnitude. The Spanish cattle
which are now raised throughout South
America, and are also found largely in Texas,
afford the best raw material for the great
staple Of this trade-scle leather. In higher
grades Of cattle, now generally raised on the
western plains, the hides do not have the
thickness of the Spanish breeds.
The increased facilities of railroad trans
portation and the reduced prices tend more
and more to bringing bark to tanneries, and
makes less necessary than heretofore the
movement of tanneries to places where the
bark grows. Hemlock bark is q special prod
uct of the north and west, while oak bark is
found more abundantly further south Buff
falo is an important center for henllock tan
ming, as are Baltimore and Cincinnati for oak
tanning. York Commercial Advertiser